Enhanced optoelectronic, thermal, mechanical and third order nonlinear optical properties of dichlorobis(thiourea)zinc(II) crystal: an effect of Phenol red dye

For the first time the growth of dichlorobis (thiourea) zinc(II) (ZTC) monocrystal in presence of Phenol red dye of considerably good size (~13 mm × 5 mm) has been achieved from aqueous solution using slow evaporation solution technique at room temperature. The solubility was calculated at different temperatures. The crystal structure was confirmed through X-ray diffraction analysis. The crystallinity of the dyed crystals has been enhanced revealed by Powder X-ray diffraction study. The presence of dye was inveterate by FT-IR and FT-Raman spectroscopic studies. The scanning electron microscopy analyses show that the grown crystals with dye are better than pure. Diffused reflectance was measured and optical band gap was calculated found to be enhanced from 4.5 to 4.65 eV for dyed crystals. The enhancement in the PL intensity has been observed in the dyed crystals. DSC study shows that the thermal stability has been remarkably enhanced from 163 °C (pure) to 203 °C (dyed) and various other thermal parameters are calculated. The surface study shows that the grown crystals with dye possess less dislocation than pure. Mechanical strength of the dyed crystal is found to be remarkably enhanced. Third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility (χ3) of PRZTC was found to be 2 times higher than pure. All results suggest that the properties of ZTC crystals grown in presence of dye are enhanced and can be considered as better contender in various nonlinear devices.